Crackdown on texting drivers starts Monday in Huntsville, Madison

Dave Dieter / The Huntsville TimesLamar Advertising employee William Ferrell puts the finishing touches on a new billboard on Jordan Lane on Thursday. Lamar is giving the city of Huntsville free use of five billboards to help spread the word about a texting while driving ban that goes into effect Monday.

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- If you're addicted to sending text messages from the road, better get it out of your system fast.

Starting Monday, both Huntsville and Madison will crack down on drivers using wireless communication devices for anything but phone calls.

Huntsville's "Eyes on the Road" ordinance, unanimously approved by the City Council in late July, makes it a crime for drivers to use a wireless device to "send, receive, download or view" electronic or digital content. The Madison City Council passed an identical law last month.

The bottom line for drivers: no texting, no reading e-mail, no scrolling through music files, no peeking at YouTube. Programming a destination into a satellite navigation unit while driving is also prohibited.

It's still OK to make calls with your cell phone, iPhone or BlackBerry.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, Madison Mayor Paul Finley and other local leaders held a news conference Friday to remind drivers about the ban.

They spoke at the base of a new fire-engine-red billboard on Huntsville's Andrew Jackson Way that reads, "DON'T TXT & DRIVE ... IT'S THE LAW."

Lamar Advertising is giving the city free use of five billboards to help spread the word about the no-texting ordinance. The other signs are on Jordan Lane, Clinton Avenue, Bob Wallace Avenue and U.S. 72 East.

A message about the new law is also being rotated on Lamar's nine digital billboards in Huntsville.

Finley said he believes the vast majority drivers want to follow the rules and will stop texting once it is illegal. He said he's going to have to break the habit of checking his BlackBerry on the go.

"I'm now able to set my phone down and just listen to music," Finley said Friday.

"Our primary goal in doing this is to improve safety. Any time you take your eyes off the road to text, that isn't the safest way to drive."

The National Safety Council estimates 1.6 million traffic accidents a year -- 28 percent of the U.S. total -- are caused by texting or cell phone use.

Texting contributed to a fatal accident in Limestone County earlier this year.

Alabama state troopers said a texting driver who ran a red light at the U.S. 72-Mooresville Road intersection on Jan. 28 struck and killed Edna Taylor Barker. Feliciano Diaz-Perez, 23, of Lilburn, Ga., was charged with vehicular homicide.

"One place we should not try to multi-task is when we're driving a car," Battle said Friday. "If we stopped and asked ourselves if we're so busy that we have to e-mail that person while driving, we'd say no, it's not a smart thing to do."

Using a wireless device while driving will be a secondary offense, meaning a texting driver has to commit another traffic violation, such as speeding or tailgating, before they can be stopped by police.

Huntsville and Madison drivers convicted under the ordinances can be fined $100 and jailed up to 10 days for a first offense, escalating to a $500 fine and three months behind bars for habitual offenders.